Thursday, January 12, 2012

Having grown up in the era of capturing moments (as opposed to the real-time 24/7 documentation that goes on today), the looming Kodak bankruptcy filing makes me a bit misty-eyed.

It’s amazing how much physical stuff beyond the camera itself, was involved in the taking and making of photographs. And each item came packaged with some representation of colorful optimism. At one end was the film. It was housed in a color-coded spool, which was safely ensconced in a lidded canister, which in turn was packaged in a trusty yellow box. At the other end were the printed images, which arrived in an elaborate system of envelopes and sleeves.

Here are just a few physical remains of the moment-capturing process, brought to us by Kodak and the others who packaged every step of the way. Just think, when Facebook files for bankruptcy in about a hundred years, there will be no clutter, at least of a physical nature, left behind.

I couldn’t find a year for this Brownie camera manual, but it is filled withtips like “Hold the camera S-T-E-A-D-Y and press the exposure releasewith a gentle squeezing action …” and “Be sure your fingeris not in front of the lens.”

The company which gave the concept of photography will cease to exist.This raises an important topic of whether technology and tradition can go hand in hand with technical innovations flying faster than the speed of light it has become difficult for even humans to keep up pace with it.No doubt a company of the caliber of Kodak has given up.I remember the old negatives and the Kodak cameras that we used to have.Some of the best memories of my life are inked in Kodak.

about this blog

L. Eckstein is a NYC-based graphic designer and artist. When she had a job that came with an office, all matter of visual interest could be tacked up on her wall, or walked down the hall to be shared with a co-worker. Her job no longer comes with an office. This is now her wall—and her hall.